Near Field Communication (NFC) is a communication scheme applied in noncontact Integral Circuit (IC) cards (smart cards), Radio Frequency IDentificaiton (RF-ID), and the like. NFC has the following three characteristics. First, NFC has a short communication distance, approximately several centimeters. Therefore, only devices at a close distance can communicate with each other, so that the communicating devices can easily and instinctively detect each other. Second, setting for the communication (NFC) is not necessary. Since NFC has a short communication distance, a possibility of interference is low. NFC can be therefore used without setting such as pairing in Bluetooth or Service Set IDentifier (SSID) setting in wireless LAN. Third, in NFC, a device can supply power to another device. Since a device (such as a reader/writer in the case of a noncontact IC card) can supply power to another device (such as a noncontact IC card), NFC can be applied to IC cards not having a battery or the like.
For example, one of existing services using NFC is an electronic ticket system such as “SuiCa” used in East Japan Railway Company. In this system, a value is previously charged into a noncontact IC card at an automatic ticket vending machine, a card vending machine, or the like. Then, in boarding, the noncontact IC card is touched to an automatic ticket gate to pay a value corresponding to a transport zone. Such a noncontact IC card generally does not have a battery. The card is activated by power supplied from the automatic ticket vending machine, the automatic ticket gate, and the like. NFC is performed between the noncontact IC card and the automatic ticket vending machine, the automatic ticket gate, or the like. As a result, value charging, fare payment, and the like are executed. One of devices having the NFC function besides a noncontact IC card and RF-ID is a mobile phone that has already been commercialized. For example, a mobile phone having the NFC function serves as a noncontact IC card (smart card) to execute electronic money payment/settlement or credit payment/settlement. In addition, NFC can be used as communication between mobile phones having NFC function. In this case, by holding a mobile phone over another mobile phone, the mobile phones can exchange data such as an address book or an image. Here, a device having a power source, such as a mobile phone, generally uses the power source to supply power to an NFC unit without receiving power from a reader/writer (see Patent Literature 1, for example).
On the other hand, it is expected that various devices (apparatuses) such as air conditioners and microwaves which have not yet been connected to a network have a difficulty in being connected to a network, even if they are provided with functions such as wireless LAN in the future, because they do not have adequate display or input functions necessary for wireless LAN setting. However, if the NFC function is provided to these various devices, further service deployments can be expected. One example is given below.
FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a system including a conventional NFC device. This is one example of possible future systems using NFC. The system shown in FIG. 25 includes an NFC device 2031, a reader/writer 2302, and a server 2303.
Likewise a mobile phone or the like, the reader/writer 2302 has an NFC function and a function of connecting the reader/writer 2302 to the Internet 2305. Examples of the NFC device 2301 are an air conditioner, a microwave, and the like. The NFC device 2301 has the NFC function but does not have a function of connecting the NFC device 2301 to the Internet 2305. The server 2303 is on the Internet 2305. The server 2303 has a manual database (DB) 2304a in which data of a manual of the NFC device 2301 is stored, an error code DB 2304b in which error codes of the NFC device 2301 are stored, and the like.
In the system having the above-described configuration, the reader/writer 2302 receives information such as a type or model of the NFC device 2301 by using NFC, thereby obtains a corresponding manual of the NFC device 2301 from the server 2303, and then displays the manual. As described above, it is possible to provide a user with information relating to the NFC device 2301, via the reader/writer 2302.
FIG. 26 shows an example of a structure of the NFC device in FIG. 25. The NFC device 2301 shown in FIG. 26 includes an antenna unit 2401, a modulation/demodulation unit 2404 that modulates and demodulates NFC, an NFC control unit 2403 that controls NFC, a power source unit 2404, a system control unit 2405, and a clock generation unit 2406.
The power source unit 2404 supplies power to the system control unit 2405, the NFC control unit 2403, the modulation/demodulation unit 2402, and the antenna unit 2401.
The clock generation unit 2406 sends a clock signal to the system control unit 2405, the NFC control unit 2403, the modulation/demodulation unit 2402, and the antenna unit 2401.
The system control unit 2405 controls original functions of the NFC device 2301. In the case where the NFC device 2301 is, for example, an air conditioner, the system control unit 2405 controls a blast fan or a compressor to cool or warm air. The system control unit 2405 also communicates with the reader/writer 2302 via the NFC control unit 2403, the modulation/demodulation unit 2402, and the antenna unit 2401, in order to, for example, send information such as a type or model of the NFC device back to the reader/writer 2302 in response to an inquiry from the reader/writer 2302.